Tales of the Detective and His Angel
by Ran-dezvous
Summary: Forty oneshots revolving around the relationship the detective, Kudou Shinichi, and his angel, Mouri Ran, share. [Playing with Heartstrings: No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sonoko knew it was all a lie.]
1. Paranormal Deception

**Disclaimer:** If I believed in subjective reality, then I would gladly say that I'm Aoyama Gosho, the creator of Detective Conan/Meitantei Conan. But I don't.

**Tales of the Detective and His Angel **_by Detective Conan Addict_

**Paranormal Deception**

**_Summary: _**Sometimes it's better not knowing everything.

This, thought Shinichi, can't be real.

He shouldn't have brought her to the library in the first place. All he wanted to do was read his favorite Sherlock Holmes novels in peace—away from Agasa-hakase's explosions. But no, Ran just had to find a book about ESP, and is now goading him to think of an object. She, on the other hand, would be the receiver. Sometimes, he wished, she just stuck to her romance novels.

"Shinichi, I can't see anything!"

"That's because your eyes are closed!"

"That's because I'm trying to concentrate! Could please do your part?!"

"But Ran, no matter how much you and I try to concentrate, it still wouldn't work. C'mon, if we could all read each other's minds, then there'd be no need for detectives!"

"Not everyone has the ability to read minds, you know."

"That includes the both of us."

"What makes you so sure about that?! You're not even doing your part!"

"It's not scientifically proven!"

"Oh and you consider yourself shrinking to a little kid scientific?"

Shinichi heaved out a sigh. "All right already, let's just get this over with."

The detective closed his eyes and tried to think of an object. Minutes passed by, and he still couldn't think of anything. No, scratch that. He was able to think of a cornucopia of things, but he couldn't bring himself to concentrate on any single one of them, his attention shifting from one object to another.

"It's too hard, Ran. I can't do this. I give up." The meitantei, in spite of the fact that it wasn't a contest, had conceded defeat.

"No, you can't give up!"

"Why shouldn't I? There's no such thing as telepathy!"

"Because—" Ran opened her eyes and leaned over to the detective's lips, touching his for a moment with her own.

Shinichi felt her lips touch against his, and opened his eyes in surprise. As she let go of her lips, a blush of crimson came across his face. His cerulean eyes continued to look at her face in shock, and for once, the loquacious detective had absolutely nothing to say, although his mouth was still left hanging after the kiss.

"Gotcha!"

Shinichi was really confused now. "Huh?"

"I can't believe you actually thought I believed in that!" Ran teased. "After all these years we've known each other, you should've known me better than that!" She gave out a huge smile and sat—

Shinichi leaned over the wooden table and pressed his lips against Ran's. The kiss didn't last very long, nor was it deep; nevertheless, it left a tingling sensation inside her. She really didn't anticipate that.

"You should have known better than to mess with the Detective of the East."

"I guess you're right." Ran replied. She tilted her head back to look at the black-rimmed wall clock hanging on the beige wall behind the circulation counter. "It's getting late now. You know how Dad is without his dinner."

"Yeah. Would you like me to walk you home?"

"No thanks. You know how my Dad feels about you." Ran stood up from her seat. "See you in school tomorrow." She heard Shinichi mutter a "see ya" before she left.

There was a huge smile plastered on Ran's face as she skipped her way home. Everyone around her had puzzled looks on their faces, and for some reason, her cheer had spread to them.

Maybe not being able to read other people's minds isn't such a bad thing after all.

_Despite the fact that I enjoy reading DC romance fics, I've never really thought I'd write one (only thirty-nine left). It's all** Ivory Petals**' fault. She told me to write forty oneshots of any DC pairing of my choice, and since I'm most familiar with the Shinichi and Ran pairing, I picked them. This series would be updated at least once a month, or else Ivory-chan's going to constantly bug me. ( To IP: You're evil, you know that?)_

_This really weird (?) fanfic idea had long existed in my head before I was 'challenged' to write this series. And as I typed this, I turned out to be different from what I originally planned. (I wasn't even sure I want to even post this in the first place.) There wasn't supposed to be any kissing originally. Then I thought Shinichi should kiss Ran. Then I wanted Ran to outsmart Shinichi. Then...you have the fic you just read. -sigh-_

_All kinds of reviews are welcome. Even ones of the negative kind._


	2. Inseparable

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan/Meitantei Conan. I just torture the characters behind Aoyama-sensei's back.

**A/N:** A belated Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Consider this my belated Valentine's gift to you all, although this has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday, nor could I say that it's romantic. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy today's tale.

I can't believe so many people liked "Paranoramal Deception"! Thanks to those who reviewed: **RanMouri82**, **Rani **(anon.), **Candyland**, **Mat49324**, **smiley's chaos**, **IcyPirateChic **(formerly known as **SangoShadowMage**), **Ivory Petals**, and **keikeiaznqueen**.

**Tales of the Detective and His Angel **_by Detective Conan Addict_

**Inseparable**

**_Summary: _**Not even an illness can separate them.

Little Ran loved to play with Shinichi at his gigantic mansion. His parents always welcomed her and made her feel at ease. For her, this was her second home, and his parents were her second parents. Shinichi was more than just her best friend; he was like a brother to her.

Or so she had thought.

"I'm so sorry, Ran-chan." A woman with curly brown locks apologized. She was sitting down in order to meet a certain brown-haired girl at eye level. "But Shin-chan's sick."

The five-year-old girl felt an unexplainable pang in her heart. "Shinichi's sick! Then let me in! I _have _to see him!" She impulsively cried out, not understanding why she was so worried about him. After all, it's not as if he was brought to the hospital.

"But, Ran-chan," Kudou Yukiko explained in a most affectionate manner. "Shin-chan has the chickenpox and I don't want you to get it. I'm sure he'd say the exact same thing."

"Chickenpox? What's that?" Ran asked, interested in knowing what was so special about it that she couldn't even see him.

"Well, chickenpox is when you get itchy reddish blisters all over your body. It's very contagious, so you can't come near him. I'll call you when he gets better, okay?"

"Okay," Ran answered in a low tone, a trace of melancholy in her voice. She turned away from the mansion and somber walked home, the perplexing pain still tugging at her heart.

-

Almost two weeks had passed since Shinichi first had the chickenpox, and he was still confined within the four walls of his bedroom. He was hoping that by two weeks time, just like his mother had said, he would be well. But he wasn't so sure about that. Time was running, and he still had some blisters—blisters that should have been gone after an entire week of medication, not to mention scabs that haven't fallen off from him yet. He sometimes thought of popping those wretched itchy blisters, but in the end, he always stopped himself, for he was fearful of his illness getting worse. Things were already bad enough as it is.

The first thing that came with the chickenpox was well, the itchiness. Itchiness that _really _tested his self-discipline. And he failed it. There were times when the itch was too much to handle and he would end up scratching himself. Fortunately for him, his parents never saw him committing the said act. Unfortunately for him, he would occasionally pop one of his blisters—despite the fact that there were times he wanted to do so—by accident, resulting in a stinging sensation. It was good thing that his parents never heard him whining in pain and that water—not blood—came out of his blisters—most of the time, anyway.

The ointment that his mother would place on his blisters didn't relieve him of his itch nor did his blisters seem to heal faster—or at least that's what he thought. For Shinichi, the only real way to relieve himself was to take a nice hot bath—or lukewarm, whenever his blisters happen to be particularly stingy. It was an excuse for him to scratch his head. But the itch almost always came back right after his bath—no matter how long he stayed or how much he cleaned himself.

His mother always told him to drink plenty of water to facilitate a quicker recovery. He did as he was told, although he doubted its effectiveness. Taking in water in such huge amounts simply resulted to a feeling of being bloated. He felt so bloated at times that he sometimes wanted to vomit all the water that he just drank; sometimes simply the sight of water made him sick.

A great number of his nights were sleepless. It was difficult for him to find a comfortable position due to the blisters on his body and when he did find a suitable pose, a severe itchiness would bother him all throughout the night. Then, in the morning, he would feel really drowsy. However, to his misfortune, his mother would always come in, bringing breakfast—and his medicine, just as he was about to drift to the land of sleep.

His hair was a complete mess. One painful combing experience was enough for him to stop—just until the chickenpox was completely out of his system. He couldn't understand why combing his hair was such an agonizing experience while scrubbing his hair and scalp was so relieving. He whined so much when his mother attempted to comb his hair that she decided to leave it alone—in all its messy glory. Add to that the fact that he would occasionally pull—not remove—his hair. Strangely enough, it alleviated his itchiness—and he didn't mind the slight pain that came with the pulling.

Another thing that came with the chickenpox was a fever—a fever which lasted for a few days after the onset of the disease. Those, for him, were the most lethargic days of his life. Not only did he feel weak and fatigued, he was also plagued by the worst itching craze he had ever experienced. A horrible stiff neck and a sore throat, which made him lose his appetite, made matters worse. He was glad to have those feverish days done and over with.

With the chickenpox came his loss of independence—the loss of whatever independence he had. His doting mother would insist on doing everything for "her little Shin-chan" and he hated it—even more than the chickenpox itself. Luckily for him, he was recently able to convince her not to bathe or dress him. Now if he could only convince her not to spoonfeed him…

His chickenpox-laden days dragged by slowly. He had absolutely nothing to do. He was even tired of reading all of his mystery novels for the umpteenth time. Once, he had tossed all his books on the floor only to realize that he read and _reread _them all—he couldn't even tell how many times he had read those!

His intense boredom had even led him to count the number of scabs on his body. He sometimes contemplated on removing those half-peeled scabs of his. Then maybe he could finally go out and see Ran. But he stopped himself from doing so for he knew that they should be able to peel off on their own. If only they didn't take their sweet time…

But for him the worst thing about his entire situation was not being with Ran. He missed everything about her—even her occasional violent tendencies. Her presence would surely brighten up his dreary days.

He wanted all this to end. He wanted to regain his normal life. He wanted things they way it used to be. But all he could do was wait.

Oh, how he hated chickenpox.

-

Ran never really had much to do—except for household chores—when Shinichi wasn't around. Whenever he wasn't at work, her father would always hog the TV to himself, watching the pop star Okino Yoko sing—again. Not that there was anything good to watch anyway.

She finally decided to _touch _the book on origami she got on her fourth birthday. She learned to make different kinds of paper animals like a turtle, a dog, and a crane. But folding paper to create figures of animals could only be entertaining for so long…

She had enough. She was going to see Shinichi—no matter what it takes.

-

Shinichi was lazily staring at the lightbulb one late Saturday morning when he heard a rustling sound outside his window. He was pretty sure it wasn't one of Agasa's explosions. Curious for the reason of the sound, he stood up from his bed and approached the window. Outside was a familiar little girl hidden in the tree branches. He pushed open the windowpanes and called out, "Ran, what are you doing there?"

The little girl replied, "I'm coming to see you, of course!" He was still the same boy since she last saw him. He was even wearing the same clothes. The only noticeable changes were his blisters and scabs—and his disheveled hair, which looked like it hadn't been combed for days. His skin almost looked like those of a potato. Some of his blisters were similar to little round mushrooms, while others were akin to tiny volcanoes.

"No!" He shouted back in a worried voice. "You shouldn't be here! You'll be sick!"

"I didn't come all the way up here just to go home!" She resisted, letting one of her arms touch the ledge of the window in an attempt to enter it. Shinichi, much against to his will, helped her get in for he feared her falling off into the ground.

"Ran," he stated in a matter-of-fact manner, "you should leave now. Mom's in the kitchen making lunch and Dad's in the study working on his next Night Baron novel. They're really busy so they wouldn't notice you. Go."

"How could you be so cold?!" She yelled, tears beginning to form at the edge of her eyes. "I'm a friend who's come to visit you, and this is how you treat me!" Her voice became dramatically lower. "Don't you want me to be with you that much?"

"No, i-it's not like that!" He responded anxiously. Sweat was dripping on his forehead. "I-I just don't want you to get sick!"

"Well, if getting sick is what it takes to be with you, then I wouldn't mind it at all!"

Those words were like a bullet that pierced his heart. Why did she care about him so much? It's not as if he's done anything great for her. Nevertheless, he was deeply touched. But he shoved those feelings and retorted, "You don't know what you're saying, Ran! I really don't see why you want to be with me so much."

"Because I care about you!" She suddenly blurted out. There was more to those words than what she said just now, but she couldn't make out her feelings.

"I care about you too, and that's why…" He said after a brief pause, "I don't want you to get sick!"

"No, Shinichi, I'm not going to let you go through this alone!" She exclaimed. Tears were already cascading down her cheeks, enough for Shinichi to see.

"Ran, please stop crying." He moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug. Her crying—which he absolutely hated—made him do things he wouldn't do otherwise. He couldn't understand the reasons behind his actions; all he knew was that he wanted to stop her from crying. "If it means that much to you, you can stay, all right?" He gently inquired. Maybe, he figured, she wouldn't be infected since he was in the process of recovery. The worst had already come to pass.

"Really?" She questioned in between sobs. "I can stay?"

"Yes," he responded, letting go of the embrace. "Now, could you please stop crying? Chickenpox is already bad enough as it is."

"O-okay," she muttered out as she wiped her tears with her hands.

-

Outside of her son's bedroom, Yukiko had heard everything. She was about to bring in her son's lunch when she heard something of what seemed to be an argument. She intently listened to every word of the conversation, wondering whether she should barge in the midst of it all or leave things to settle between the two children. Now that the disagreement between them was resolved, she didn't know what to do: send Ran home or let her stay with Shinichi. She was in deep thought about the entire matter when all of a sudden, she heard a whining voice—it was her son's.

"Ouch, Ran! That hurts!"

"Well, if you just combed your hair like you normally do, it wouldn't be this hard! Stupid tangles."

"Ouch! Ouch!" It seemed like Ran was yanking her son's hair with the comb. Yukiko was caught up between saving "her Shin-chan" from the wrath of Ran's combing and leaving the girl to fix her son's hair. After some time, she decided to go with the latter, seeing as Ran was the only one whom Shinichi allowed to touch his hair. Besides, his unkempt hair was beginning to bother her and she thought that it was unbecoming of him to have such tousled tresses.

"Ouch, Ran! You're hurting my scalp!" Yukiko felt a sense of guilt as she heard her son's cries. She couldn't help but cringe at the sound of his suffering.

Maybe she should just barge in and end her son's pain.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, the wailing sound had stopped. "There. You look much better." It was Ran—and she had successfully—give or take the pain—combed her son's hair. Yukiko was happy, yet she was also sad, for Ran was able to do something—something she wasn't able to do despite the fact that she was his mother—for Shinichi.

"Yeah, but my scalp still hurts. Ouch."

Yukiko had made up her mind. Ran's visit would definitely do some good for Shinichi. No, it would do good for both of them. They have been separated for far too long…

Now, to go on to another pressing question. Should she go inside and tell the two children that she knows everything? Or should she stay outside and quietly observe them?

The latter option seemed more fun to her. But then she remembered her son's lunch. She couldn't just leave her son hungry, could she? Nourishment was very important for a recovering boy.

An idea had just dawned upon her. It was funny, she thought, that she never did that before.

-

"Ouch…" It had been a few minutes since Ran stopped combing Shinichi's hair and the latter was still silently mumbling about the pain.

"Okay, I think you're going overboard, Shinichi. Your scalp still can't be that painful."

"Well, it does. Just where on earth do you get all that power?"

Just before Ran was about to react to what she believed to be an insult, there was a knocking sound on the door.

"Shin-chan, lunch is ready! Could I come in?" asked a familiar, motherly voice.

Shinichi, not even wondering why his mother would ask for his permission to enter his room, quietly instructed Ran to hide under his bed. The little girl immediately followed her friend's order.

"Yes," answered the little boy.

Carrying a tray, Yukiko gracefully entered her son's room. She carefully placed the tray on a table near the bed. "Make sure to eat all your food, okay? I'll be back in an hour."

"Huh? You're not going to feed me?" Shinichi queried. It was odd that he didn't even have to coax his mother not to spoonfeed him, when earlier in the morning she insisted on feeding "her little boy." He opted not to look deeper into the matter and decided to be happily contented with it.

"Of course not, sweetie. You're a growing boy, and growing boys should learn to eat by themselves." It was strange to hear those words from his doting mother. Nevertheless, he knew those words to be true and he was ecstatic over that fact.

Yukiko then planted a kiss on her son's cheek—to which he winced—and left the room. After a few minutes, Ran crawled out of the bed and dusted herself off.

"Hey, Ran, aren't your parents going to look for you?" enquired Shinichi.

"No, I told them I'm going to be at Sonoko's."

"Here, have some." He offered his bowl of rice to Ran. "Nobody knows you're here…and…well…you might be hungry…" A slight tinge of red was on his face. He couldn't comprehend why it felt bizarre for him to offer her a simple bowl of rice. They were best friends; there should be nothing unusual about that.

"Thanks. Itadakimasu!" She replied, oblivious to apparent blush on his face. After eating a mouthful of rice, she passed the black bowl back to Shinichi. "Hey, it's not fair if I eat this by myself. It's your food; you should have some."

Shinichi did not move a muscle nor spoke a word. His cerulean eyes seemed to be staring off into space.

"Oi, Shinichi! What do you want me to do? Feed you?" She waved her hands in front of her friend's face.

The boy was snapped back to reality. "No, of course not!" He rejected, although the prospect of it didn't seem too bad. "Give me that," he motioned her to hand him the bowl and chopsticks.

"Here." She said, handing over Shinichi's food. "It tastes good, you know."

"Thanks." He responded, his face redder than before.

-

Outside of her son's room, Yukiko couldn't help but smile. 'Aww…how sweet,' she giddily thought to herself.

Those blissful thoughts were then interrupted by a mustached figure behind her. It was her husband, Kudou Yuusaku. "What are you doing in front of our son's door?"

"Sssh. Ran-chan's in there."

"Ran-chan's inside?! Why did you allow her? She's going to get Shinichi's illness!" Yuusaku protested.

"But, honey, listen. They sound so happy. I've never seen Shin-chan this happy since he got the chickenpox…" Yukiko reasoned.

"All right, if you say so. Let's have lunch now, shall we?"

"But I want to stay here longer!"

"Honey, I think you should give our son some privacy."

"You're right."

And off went Shinichi's parents to the kitchen to have their lunch.

-

"Umm…Shinichi…there's something I want to give you." Ran sputtered out nervously. A considerable amount of sweat was on her face. Her hands were trembling as a result of the tension building up inside her.

"What is it?" Shinichi quizzed.

She took out a red pouch, tied with a white ribbon, from her shorts pocket and handed it to Shinichi. "Here…I hope you like it. I made it myself."

He untied the ribbon from the pouch. He looked inside and grabbed what seemed to be a half-burnt chocolate chip cookie.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to burn it!" she interjected.

"I think this cookie looks just fine." He took a bite and chewed it. "It tastes great!"

"Really? Thanks!" Shinichi grabbed another cookie. Ran pulled a piece of red paper—which appeared to be creased—from her pocket. "Here, Shinichi. It's a crane. It's said that when you give someone a paper crane, that person would get well sooner….I'm sorry I only gave this to you now—I should have given this to you earlier!"

"No, it's fine." He took the paper animal from her hand, carefully eyeing it. "Besides, none of that stuff's true anyway." After a brief pause, he asked, "Since when did you know origami?" It struck him as peculiar that Ran took an interest in folding paper animals.

"I learned it last week—while waiting for you to get better." She pouted, crossing her arms over her rest. "Why should you care? You don't believe in that kind of stuff anyway."

"True, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the effort. Ran, this is the nicest present anyone's ever given me."

The pout on her visage dissolved as rapidly as it had gotten there. "Really?" She was pretty sure that her gift was of little significance to him, that he loved all his mystery novels better.

"Really." His scrutinizing eyes had then come to spot black hiragana characters—in Ran's handwriting—on the lower right of the crane. It read, _"Get well soon, Shinichi. Love, Ran". _A smile emerged on his lips. He wondered what she meant by _'love'. _Was it possible that she thought of him more than just a friend? But then again, _'love' _was also a common complimentary close. Whatever caused him to think such thoughts, he couldn't understand. "Thanks."

"Umm…you're welcome." She replied with a shade of crimson on her face.

"I promise I'll make this up to you when I get better."

"No, that's okay," she refused. "Your thanks are good enough."

-

It was a Sunday morning. Ran had wakened up to an itchy sensation on her leg. Just as she was about to scratch the irritated area, she noticed a blister—just like Shinichi's, except smaller. She quickly proceeded to inspect the rest of her body, finding out that a considerable amount of blisters were already on her body.

She hurriedly rushed downstairs to the kitchen, where her parents were having breakfast. Fortunately for her, her lawyer-mother, Mouri Eri, "The Queen of the Court," didn't have any cases to take care of today. "Look, I've got the chickenpox—just like Shinichi!"

"Great, that brat gave you the chickenpox—and you're not even around him!" Her father, a police detective, Mouri Kogoro bitterly remarked.

"I guess this means I'm gonna have to go to the dermatologist for your treatment." Eri commented. "After eating your breakfast, go immediately to your room, okay, Ran-chan?"

"Okay," she answered as she sat down on a chair.

-

Eri was about to leave the apartment when she heard the phone ringing. "Hello, this is Mouri Eri speaking. Who is it that I'm speaking to?"

"It's me, Yukiko. Could you just tell Ran that Shin-chan's completely recovered and that she could come see him?"

"I'm sorry, but she can't." Eri apologized.

"Why not?"

"Ran's got the chickenpox."

"Well, I guess this means there's no reason for the two _not _to see each other. Now that Shin-chan's cured, he's become immune to it." Yukiko gushed, "The star-crossed lovers can finally be with each other!"

"What are you talking about, Yukiko?" The lawyer questioned. "They're only five, you know."

"Yeah, but don't you think they make a great couple? Who knows, maybe my Shin-chan will marry your Ran-chan."

"Okay, I think you've been on _too _many romance movies." The thought of the two getting married was absolutely ridiculous, although the name "Kudou Ran" didn't sound too bad. "Look, I can't keep this conversation for long; I still have to go to the dermatologist."

"Hey, how 'bout I go to the dermatologist? Then I can bring Shin-chan over and it would be his turn to take care of Ran-chan." Yukiko suggested.

"_His _turn?" Eri asked, startled. "You mean _Ran _came over there! She got the chickenpox from _Shinichi!"_ She was clearly agitated, her voice getting louder.

"Well, in not so many words, yes."

"Why didn't you send her home?"

"The two just seemed so happy with each other! Look, Ran-chan doesn't know that I know, so please don't get angry at her." Yukiko explained. "Besides, I think her visit did a whole lot of good for Shin-chan. I honestly thought he wasn't going to get better for another week."

"How about your husband—does he know?" interrogated the lawyer.

"Yeah, but I convinced him not to send Ran-chan home."

Eri sighed. She couldn't possibly take back the past. "My husband and I can't afford to stay at home to take care of Ran-chan all the time, unlike you and your husband. We'll talk about the details later, okay?"

"Sure. Bye, Eri."

"Bye, Yukiko." The lawyer had put down the phone. She now had a case—and the trial's going to be held right at her very home. Eri sighed again. 'This is going to be a long day.'

* * *

**Omake for _Paranormal Deception_**

"Shinichi, here." Ran slapped a white rectangular box with black squiggles on the detective's desk.

"A box of cards?" He inquired. "What do you want me to do with a box of cards?"

"I want you to pick a card and imprint it in your mind. That way, you won't have to worry what to think when we do our telepathy exercise." The karate champion replied.

"I thought you said you didn't believe in that stuff."

"I lied." As a detective, Shinichi should have figured that out, but no, Ran just _had _to get the better of him.

Ran took her chair from her desk and placed it in front of Shinichi's. "Have you picked a card already?"

"Yes" was the detective's blunt reply.

"Let me guess….You got a three of spades."

Sure enough, Ran had gotten it correctly. "Yeah, you got that right." Shinichi bitterly replied, showing her the aforementioned card. "It was only a coincidence. Let's try it again." He absolutely hated losing to her, especially if it was related to the paranormal—utter nonsense, he thought.

"Okay."

He selected another card, firmly believing that probability was on his side.

Unfortunately for the detective, probability decided to fight against him. "Queen of hearts."

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped in shock. "This can't be right! There's no way you can guess two cards correctly in succession!" He protested.

"You're just saying that because you're losing to Ran-chan," taunted a perky female voice. Shinichi directed his head to its direction. The insult came from none other than Suzuki Sonoko, Ran's female best friend.

The detective inwardly fumed at that comment. "Since how long have you been in here?" He questioned, a slight trace of annoyance in his voice.

"Long enough to know that you stink at this!" Sonoko continued to taunt him.

"Let's do this again." He told Ran, forgetting the original purpose of the exercise. He wasn't going to lose again—or else Sonoko would never shut up about it. He grabbed another card right from the middle of the deck.

"It's the eight of diamonds."

"No! You must be cheating!" He accusingly bellowed out. He didn't want to believe that she was playing a trick on him, but he didn't want to believe that telepathy was actually possible.

"No, I'm not! Your mind's just easily susceptible!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"What? You, _the_ top student, don't know the meaning of 'susceptible'?"

"I know what 'susceptible' means! But that's not the point!"

Dropping their lunches and their varied conversations, the rest of Class 2-B had decided to gather around Kudou Shinichi's desk, intently listened to the heated discussion between the teenage detective and the karate champion—which they found to be unusual for the two lovebirds—with keen interest.

"Then what, may I ask, is the point, Mr. Detective?"

To tell the truth, there was no point. Shinichi had just let his pride get the best of him—again. He struggled for an answer. "Umm…well…I just…I just couldn't take losing to you, okay?" There, he had said it. With the exemption of confessing to Ran that he was Conan, he had a difficult time bringing himself to say it. Humility wasn't exactly the teenage detective's specialty.

"So does this mean that you believe in telepathy?" Ran cheerily asked, moving towards him.

"No. Probability just happens to be on your side."

"Not even a little?" The karate champion tried to squeeze a confession out of him.

"No," he insisted. "Could we _please _stop this?" He took a glance at his wristwatch. "There's only fifteen minutes until our next class, and I still haven't eaten my lunch yet."

"Okay, how about after school at your place?"

"No, I don't want to have to do anything with telepathy—or any other paranormal phenomena for that matter—ever again." He refused. "If you want, you could do it with Sonoko. Count me out."

"Fine. Give me back my cards."

Shinichi returned the deck of cards to Ran. The crowd of students that had been watching them resumed their normal lunchtime activities. The two teenagers proceeded to eating their lunch in the remaining time they had.

The topic of paranormal phenomena was never brought up again—at least not in front of Kudou Shinichi.

_Today's tale was inspired by the fact that chickenpox had struck our family. All of us siblings contracted the illness, and I dubbed ourselves "The Chickenpox Family". Darn, I've been absent from school for more than a week already. And I have absolutely no idea what I've missed. (Nobody cares about me!) I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to go back to school! (Arrgh! I have so much to catch up on! And the discrimination is really going to stink. Wah...I only have a little more than a month before summer vacation. This is so unfair...)_

_This was orginally meant to be short but it grew. And grew. Into something different from what I originally planned. I don't know whether this tale's angsty or fluffy anymore. Blame it on my muse who decided to become active when I had (and still do have) the chickenpox. And the computer which refused to open my file from my diskette twice (so much for a fool proof plan not to lose files). Well, at least the tale itself was a little longer than nine pages (the longest I've ever typed) and my paragraphs were thicker (I can't believe I'd actaully be able to do that!)._

_I apologize for the use of clichés. I suck at making my own metaphors. And I apologize for overly torturing Shinichi. For the Shinichi fangirls, at least Shinichi didn't have any scars. His skin's back to its usual flawlessness. Go gush over him. -gets trampled by Shinichi fangirls-_

_I don't think I could write anything this long again. But I'm still hoping to outdo myself. And I'd just like you guys to know that I have quite a number of ideas featuring them as children ('cause I can't figure out how to do it with them as teenagers or my imagination must be severely damaged). _

_I got the idea for the omake when I read your reviews. Gah, the card idea sounded so Kaito-y. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writng, I mean, typing it._

_Please review. They make great birthday gifts. -gives away virtual chocolate chip cookies- Don't worry, they're not burnt. And I'm pretty sure you can't get chickenpox like this._

_Shinichi fangirls: Are you trying to bribe us?_

_Me: No..._

_Shinichi fangirls: Get her! -chases the author, attempting to hit her with pitchforks-_

_Oh, and constructive criticism is still very much appreciated. Until next time! -continues to run-_


	3. Playing with Heartstrings

**Title: **Playing with Heartstrings  
**Author:** Ran-dezvous  
**Genre: **Romance/General  
**Fandom: **Detective Conan  
**Pairing: **Kudou Shinichi and Mouri Ran  
**Word Count: **1,706  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Warning(s): **I dunno . . . slightly suggestive themes?  
**Original Publish Date: **October 10, 2007  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Detective Conan. It all belongs to the talented Aoyama Gosho. I only threaten the characters to do my bidding or face the wrath of the paper shredder. Good thing they listen.  
**Summary: **No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sonoko knew it was all a lie.

* * *

Sonoko was giving Shinichi a glare that smelled of mischief and he didn't like one bit of it. The teenage boy was beginning to regret the fact that Ran, his best friend, actually convinced him to play a stupid game (in his opinion) such as this. 

"Let me see . . . What should I make you do?" Sonoko mumbled, whilst her hand caressed her chin in thought. She still had that ominous look in her eyes.

Shinichi suspected that she already knew what she wanted him to do. He managed to keep himself calm and asked after waiting a few more minutes, "Oi, haven't you thought of anything yet?"

Sonoko let go of her chin and flashed a smirk. "Aren't we in a hurry today? You must be _really_ excited."

"No," Shinichi shot back, rolling his eyes. "I still remember what you did the last time we played this—spreading my answers all over school?" With a scoff, he added, "That wasn't funny!"

"And I suppose that's why you chose Dare this time—don't think you'll get away that easily." Sonoko leaned her head forward, causing the detective to slightly move his head back.

"There's no way you're going to spread any of my answers"—he stopped in mid-sentence as her last six words finally registered in his brain—"what do you mean?"

"I dare you to kiss Ran," Sonoko nonchalantly challenged the boy, and with a devious smile, she added, ". . . on the lips."

"WHAT?" Shinichi shouted, his face rapidly turning crimson. "You w-want me to k-kiss Ran? On the lips? You're k-kidding, right?"

"Does this look like I'm joking?" Sonoko cheekily asked as she pointed at her own face with her finger. "What's wrong with that, anyway? I thought you liked her."

"W-Who told you that?" Shinichi impulsively answered back, clenching his fists. "I never said I li—" Realizing what he just said, he immediately clamped his mouth with his hands. He then shifted his eyes to look at his childhood friend, who was equally blushing. "Ran, I . . ."

"It's just a game, Shinichi," Ran mumbled, staring at the floor. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Shinichi moved his head to face her; he could hear his heart thumping loudly.

And the entire room turned into silence.

"So are you guys going to kiss or not?" Sonoko interrupted the short-lived silence.

"You're right—it's only a game . . ." Shinichi told Ran in a gentle voice, with his eyes averting her gaze. ". . . so why don't we do it?—that is, if it's okay with you. . . ."

"If you really want to . . ." Ran softly answered, the color on her cheeks darkening even further. ". . . then I guess it's fine by me. . . ."

"Listen, I'm fine either way. . . ." Shinichi assured her. "I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to."

Ran's heart skipped a beat. Was he really serious? After a moment of contemplation, she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Yes."

"Are you sure?" Shinichi asked, facing her once more. "Because if you're not, th—"

"Would you just do it already? I'm tired of waiting!" cut off an impatient Sonoko. Her arms were placed across her chest.

Shinichi took in a breath of oxygen before leaning over towards Ran. With a heavily pounding heart, his cerulean eyes slowly met hers and they stared at each other for about a minute.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sonoko jibed, excited for the poor boy to do the deed.

Shinichi lowered his gaze towards the ground. "I can't . . . I can't do it. . . ."

"What do you mean you can't do it?" Sonoko's excitement turned to disappointment.

"It . . . It just doesn't seem right . . ." Shinichi said with a wistful look in his eyes, ". . . having to use Ran as a prop like that. . . . I don't think I could ever . . ."

The girl in front of him could not help but utter his name even as she continued to blush. "Shinichi . . ."

"I get it," taunted Sonoko, giving the boy a menacing look, "You're scared, aren't you?"

"I-I'm not scared!" Shinichi protested loudly, with eyes glaring at the sandy brown-haired girl.

"Then do it—consider yourself lucky that I didn't ask you to kiss some random stranger on the street!"

"STOP!" Ran suddenly yelled at the top of her voice, bringing what would have been a long and grueling feud between the two teenagers to a halt. Her voice then lowered itself. "I don't want you guys fighting over some stupid dare, okay, so just do it, Shinichi. I already told you I'm fine with it—if-if you want, you can just forget that this ever happened."

"Well, if you're sure . . ." Shinichi faced her and tenderly pressed his lips against hers. It lasted for only a short while, and yet they could not help but feel something special—something inexplicable—as the act was executed.

After the kiss, Shinichi immediately turned away from the girl out of sheer embarrassment; it was evidenced by the change of shade in his cheeks. Ran's face was of a rosy color as well.

Not long after, a curious Sonoko inquired, "So . . . how was it?"

The blushing couple stood up and unexpectedly retorted in unison. "It's none of your business!"

Sonoko made no response, and she could see they were about to spontaneously combust.

-

"I can't believe you actually did that, Ran!" Sonoko cheered as she and Ran walked out of the Kudou estate. She then raised a fist into the air. "You go, girl!"

"Eh? What did I do?" Ran looked at her friend and pointed a finger at herself, clueless as to the cause behind Sonoko's giddiness.

"Don't be so modest, Ran!" Sonoko beamed, slapping her friend's right shoulder. "You know what I mean! Asking Shinichi-kun to kiss you—that was so awesome!"

Ran's face flushed of scarlet. "I only asked him to do that because you two were fighting—there's no way I'd ever kiss that mystery geek! What were you thinking, giving him a dare like that? You even got me involved!"

"Why? Didn't you enjoy it?" Sonoko quizzed, pretending to be innocent.

"No—that detective freak's such a terrible kisser!"

"How would you know that, Ran? Isn't that your first kiss?"

"Ugh. Don't remind me."

"Why shouldn't I? Shouldn't that be one of the most memorable events in your life?"

"Yeah—and you ruined it. Thanks a lot, Sonoko." Ran replied, the last sentence having a hint of sarcasm.

"What are you getting angry at me for? You're the one that asked him to kiss you."

"That's not the point!"

"So what is the point? A simple peck's not good enough for you?"—an impish grin began to play on Sonoko's lips—"Or is it because you wanted him to bring you to wrap his arms around you in a tight embrace, and . . ."

"And what?" Ran grumpily asked.

With her hands clasped together, Sonoko moved her head sideways and mischievously shifted her eyes toward the chocolate-haired girl. ". . . make out 'till morning?"

"M-Make out? S-Sonoko, what are you thinking?" Ran's face turned even redder as the idea of it flashed in her mind. She crossed her arms before scoffing in denial, "That egomaniac can make out with those fangirls of his for all I care!"

"Then what's with those dreamy eyes? You were thinking about it, weren't you?"

"Sonoko!"

"Relax, Ran! I was just kidding!" Sonoko's head then tilted towards the starry sky with the help of her index finger. "But still . . . I've never heard of anyone who doesn't want to be kissed by their first love so much."

"He is not my first love!"

"What is he then? Your last?" Sonoko sneakily countered as she faced her friend once again.

"No, he's not!" Ran retorted, "Besides, why would I love a brainiac who only cares about solving cases?"

"Um . . . I don't know. . . . The fact that you two grew up together?"

"Hey, just because we grew up together doesn't mean we'll become lovers!"

"But isn't that what you want?"

Ran fell silent.

"You can't fool me, Ran!" Sonoko proclaimed with a smile, "I remember you telling me about your feelings for him... I'm sure he has feelings for you as well."

"How can you be so sure 'bout that?" Ran inquired, unconsciously admitting that she had been lying a few minutes ago.

"Oh c'mon, Ran! Isn't it obvious?" Sonoko ecstatically pointed out, "The way he blushed and the way he hesitated at the prospect of kissing you and . . ."

"That doesn't mean he likes me."

"So why does he hang around you despite the fact that you always threaten to beat him up with your karate, huh?"

"I-I don't always threaten to beat him up!—okay, maybe a lot."

"Or how about the fact that he doesn't have a girlfriend yet?"

"He's probably enjoying his masses of fangirls too much to stick to just one."

"Or maybe . . . he already has someone in mind," Sonoko suggested as she playfully pressed her finger against Ran's temple, "—you!"

"Me? That's silly, Sonoko." The karateka abruptly stopped from walking; her eyes were gazing at the asphalted road. "There's no way Shinichi would ever choose me. He's smart, handsome, athletic, brave, cool, and popular, and I'm just . . ."

"Ran, don't say that," Sonoko said, encircling Ran's shoulders with her left arm. "You have a lot of good qualities—Shinichi-kun would say the same thing."

"If Shinichi did like me," she tried to justify herself, "then he would have told me already."

"Well, maybe he's not telling for the same reasons you're not telling him."

"Shinichi—scared? That's not like him."

"Well, love _does_ strange things to people."

"You can't jump to conclusions about these things, Sonoko."

"So are you looking for evidence, detective?"

"No," Ran shook her head. "I'm just saying we shouldn't pass judgment so easily."

"Okay, okay," Sonoko agreed, her arm still on Ran's shoulder as they resumed their walk toward the Mouri Detective Agency. "But I still think you should be open to the possibility that Shinichi-kun likes you back—you've got nothing to lose!"

Ran could only smile back at her friend.

* * *

_Yeah, so I wrote a Shin/Ran Truth or Dare fic . . . because I haven't seen any (well, I've seen a Kaito/Aoko one) . . . and after months of this thing sitting on my desktop and mp3 player, I kinda wanted to stab myself for writing it. I actually wanted to do some editing on this, but because I've been ignoring this for a long time, I forgot what I was supposed to change/add . . . and now I'm posting this just so it wouldn't just sit there and rot away. And now I'm beginning to think this is more of a Ran/Sonoko friendship fic. Haha._

_Oh, and a month ago, I found out from chatting with **RanMouri82** __that French kissing is a sin. (I'm just saying this; she had_ absolutely_ no influence in the writing of this story.) Now, excuse me as I try to wash the guilt feelings I have and maybe, just maybe, I'll write one. (Don't count on it, um, any time soon.)_

_Concrit is still loved, peeps. Until next time!_


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